The Last Quest
by DianaChaseKirkland
Summary: We know what happened after Percy woke from his sleep...but during it? Go along in the quest and find it out! This story is situated between The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune. Disclaimer! I do not own the Percy Jackson Series or any of it's characters. Only the OC's. Read prologue.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Hey everyone out there! I don't have much time to tell this story. We're in sort of a break and I decided it was a good time to start narrating, when I have the events still fresh in my mind. Tabatha argues this isn´t the moment as we are fleeing from an imminent and surely painful death. But as I once heard Chiron say. What a best moment for inspiration than when you're about to die?

But anyway, here's the story….


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

First things first, have you ever believed in gods? Not the church, omnipotent, worth of entire faith ones. I mean ancient gods. The ones the Greeks and Romans believed in. In case you don't, well, I'll try to give the briefest explanation possible.

Look. All those myths and legends about gods and goddesses and their super great powers and their children with humans… guess what my friend? They aren't myths. All those things you might have once called junk are more real than your _boring-harmless-non sense-almost typical_ life, which is saying a lot since there is nothing real in your _boring-harmless-non sense-almost typical_ life. Maybe harmless is not the right word because if you analyze the strange things that may have…

"For Athena's sake! If you are recording that thing anyway, can you at least do it quickly?"

Right, sorry. I'm getting out of context. Well, once we've accepted gods are real there's another thing to accept: they still live in our days. Of course they live as they are immortal so here I have another wrong term. I don't know why this happ…. Don't give me that look Taba, I'm going as fast as I can, with all this pressure, do you think I concentra…ouch! Fine! However, gods are real and they live nowadays, which means they're still doing things such as having children with humans. These children are called demigods or half-bloods. You know half-god half-human. Demigods are ADHD, so they find it hard to stay put and do nothing (like sitting in a classroom for instance). They are also dyslexic, as their brains are "programmed" to read ancient Greek, not English or any other language they make you read in school. We have natural battle reflexes, and some of us have special powers according to our godly parent. Wondering why I said _we_? Yes, I'm a demigod. My name is Dan. I'm a son of Apollo (Tabatha please, I'm about to start).

Well, it all started one night. I was sleeping when I had a dream vision (which is very common for us by the way). I was standing in the middle of a beautiful garden. The grass was sparkly green. The flowers shimmered with lots of different colors, as if they'd been submerged in a rainbow. The sky was a mixture of pink and a light shade of red. The beginning of a beautiful sunset. Next to me I spotted a tree with golden light emanating from it. As I got closer I noticed the golden light was provided by round shapes that hung from the branches. Apples. But not any apples. Golden apples, I mean actually made of gold, of gold like the one…

"They all know what gold is Dan."

Shh! Who's telling the story, huh? Anyway, as I was saying, they were golden apples. Just then I realized where I was. The Garden of the Hesperides.

I was no expert at it. Actually, I'm no expert at anything that has to do with books or classes. Guess that even for demigod parameters, I'm way too ADHD. However, I'd heard something about the garden during a mythology class with Chiron. I didn't remember much, only that it belonged to some daughters of Atlas, the titan dude who held the sky. But as I approached the tree, I also spotted a person, sat by the shade of the leaves. A girl in fact, dressed in a white Greek dress, (I don't care if the word is chiton, Taba. Just let me go on, please). Well, a white dress. Her hair was silky black and she had caramel-skin. Her deep black eyes were staring at the horizon. I'm not denying it. She was really beautiful. But after years of being a demigod I'd learned that the most impressive beauty was also the most dangerous. I didn't really know why I was walking towards her, but once I was also under the shade of the tree she spoke.

"About time, Danariel Sternikovsky." Feel free to laugh, really. I hate my name too. Anyway, she spoke not even looking at me, so I needed a minute to realize she was talking to me.

"Time for what?" I asked.

"For you to appear, of course. Either I'm losing my power or you have a very tough mind" she said. Tough?

"What do you mean?" I insisted.

"Nonsense" she said and she turned to see me. My breath momentarily stopped as her black gaze fixed on me "The really important thing, the reason I've brought you here is to warn you".

I waited for her to continue. She got it and kept going.

"My warning is simple though. All I want you to know is that 'Your blood is close'."

I frowned. "Pretty simple warning."

She gave me a slight smile. "It's actually easier than you think. You just need to find the right person to interpret it."

"If it's so easy, why I can't interpret it myself?"

"One step at a time, young hero, soon you'll understand it"

"And what I'm supposed to understand? Why did you bring me here in the first place?" I asked gesturing to the garden. As I looked around I noticed something odd "Wait, wasn't this tree supposed to be guarded by a dragon or something?"

Her face suddenly turned dark. Not the_ I'm-about-to-kill-you_ type but the _stop-talking-about-the-matter_ type.

"Don't seek what's not to be found" she said. Something I hated badly about people was when they spoke in riddles. And my friend here was doing nothing but riddling-me.

"Look, I don't get a single thing of what you are saying and I really don't care. Can I go back to my dreamless sleep please?" as soon as I said it I knew I should've bitten my tongue. Chiron always said I was pretty insolent for a child of Apollo, but hey, my mom's side also had to count, didn't it? The girl stood from the grass and looked defiantly at me with those intimidating eyes of hers.

"Mind your words son of Apollo. In the path you've got ahead of you, I might be your only chance to survive" she snapped her fingers and suddenly I wasn't in the garden anymore…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I looked around. I was back on my bunk at cabin seven. My snoring cabin mates lay beside me, some in funny positions, with their arms spread over the mattress or hugging their pillows. But they showed no sign of waking. I glanced at the clock hanging on a near wall. Four twenty. Of course no one's awake at that time. I knew it was pointless to stay in bed, since there was no way I could sleep again, but I did it anyway. I kept thinking about the girl. It was clear she was one of the Hesperides, but what I really thought about were her words. "_Your blood is close" _What in the world had she meant? The clock kept walking slowly until it passed five.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and I got up and headed straight to the bathroom. I opened the tap, removed my clothes and got under the water. It relaxed me a little, as it always did. I stayed there for a long, long time and then closed the tap. When I was dressed I opened the bathroom's door, just to find that everyone was starting to get up from bed.

"Good morning" I said as enthusiastic as I could, for no one to suspect about my bad night.

"Good morning" answered a few ones, while the others hadn't woke fully yet.

"You up so early? Today must be a very important day" laughed Sara, my best friend.

"I just couldn't sleep anymore so I took a shower" I said as I shrugged. She punched me softly on the arm.

"Anyway, hot water?" she asked.

"Sort of. Maybe I was just lucky to bathe before them" I said.

"In that case, excuse me" she picked her clothes and ran for the bathroom, shutting the door close in Hayley's face. I couldn't help laughing though he gave me a murderous look. I raised my hands in surrender and walked back to my bunk.

I say it proudly: my bunk was a disaster. Paper balls and candy wrappers were all over the floor. Over the bed I had quivers full of arrows. It was a miracle I hadn't stabbed myself in my sleep. One of my bows hung on the wall next to me and some others I had them under my bed, were I kept some fiction books as well, just to read when I got bored.

"Better fix that up" I turned and found Will Solace, our head counselor, standing behind me. He was still in his blue pajamas. His hair swept to one side.

"Today´s early inspection" he reminded.

"I'll have it ready" I said. He nodded and got into the bathroom just when Sara came out, closing the door on Hayley's face, again. I suppressed a smile and started cleaning my bunk. Once everything was in order I sat at the edge of the bed waiting for the others to be ready. My nose itched. The whole cabin stilled stank with perfume. Holding my breath, I started thinking about the dream again. _Your blood is close_. Four simple but very complicated words, which meaning I was far to figure out. Why a Hesperide had taken me to her garden just to tell me that? And what the heck did my blood has to do with anything?

"You ready people?" Will asked. I didn't realize how much time had passed. Everyone was fixing the last details of the place. Sara was straightening beds. Kelly picked little papers from the floor. Even grumpy Jack, who never helped cleaning the cabin, was sweeping the entrance.

"Everything looks fine" said Catherine, Will's second-in-command. He smiled at her and she seemed suddenly interested on the floor. I didn't like to get into other people's lives (Ha! Right, not even Ibelieve that) but I could easily tell that Will liked Catherine way more than what he would admit, and she wasn't completely indifferent.

"Okay" he said looking away from Catherine "If I'm not miscalculating, the inspection should begin..." we heard a knock on the door. Will smiled "now".

Kelly opened the door and Leo Valdez stepped in.

"Wassup?" he grinned as he patted Will on the shoulder. I smiled. I guess we all loved when Leo was in charge of the cabin inspection. He argued that since he's a mechanic, he can't _really_ be one to judge about cleaning. So he just walked around the place and pretended to check on everything, in case someone was watching, and then just threw a score according to the cabin's reputation. Aphrodite, always a five out of five. Hermes, two out of five, even now it was less crowded. Hecate, a four or five, depending on the previous night's magic duel. But that day, that was the tricky part for us. Since the incident, we didn't know what to expect.

He paced back and forth among the lines of bunks, entered the bathroom, checked on the ceiling and wrote something on the inspection scroll.

"Congrats guys" he said "I didn't saw the mess after the bomb. It should've been super cool! But this place is in perfect order. Chiron may not believe me, but try to keep it like this just in case he wants to pass by" we all let out a sigh of relief. We'd been afraid we would have to take another night in kitchen patrol. Honestly, that work sucks.

You'll see. The Hermes cabin, more specifically the Stoll brothers, enjoyed playing jokes on everybody, mostly on the Aphrodite cabin. The last time, they had thrown a good bunch of stinky dirty laundry into their bathroom and the smell stayed in the place for weeks. In revenge they designed a bomb, with help from some Hecate kids, that was magically programmed to spread a sick amount of perfume wherever it was tossed. But their aiming failed a little, well, it failed a lot, and the bomb landed in our place. What we didn't know was that, apart from the perfume, the bomb also exploded literally, so it all turned into the worst mess ever seen. Not only were we punished for having such a disaster in the cabin, but after 4 days, the whole place stilled being suffocated with Channel N. 7

Leo actually laughed. It must've been our silly expressions.

"All right then. See you guys at dinner" he said as he headed back to the door.

"Why at…" I started saying but then stopped myself "oh right".

Leo nodded "It must be ready for June and we're barely half-half way" he said, getting a bit serious. But just as fast he recovered his typical grin and waved at us "Anyway, see you. Bye Dan" he punched my stomach and leaved.

"Well, this we must celebrate" said Will. Everyone cheered "But, later. I'm starving. Let's go have breakfast" we all went out and marched to the dinning pavilion. We sat at our table and for once in days, we enjoyed a good meal without worrying about the amount of dishes we'd have to wash after. Then we started with our daily activities. Canoe riding. Arts and Crafts. Sword fighting. And my very favorite: archery practice. For me, there was nothing better than holding a bow, setting an arrow and shooting. We were playing this game Chiron invented. Sort of capture-the-flag but with movable targets and flying obstacles (courtesy of the Hephaestus' cabin).

After a few rounds, one of the Athena campers we were competing with got injured by an arrow. Chiron called a break and took him to the infirmary. I sat a moment to wipe my sweat. It was still early February, but that particular morning felt almost as hot as a summer day.

"Hey looser!" my cousin Tabatha appeared next to me.

If you looked at her you'd never imagine she was part of my family. It was also true that we were far relatives, but still. She had red straight hair and dark green eyes. Her skin was as white as the snow and her pink lips seemed cotton candy. Absolutely nothing to do with me, with my dark brown and slightly curled hair and my blue eyes.

"Hey." I said simply. She stared at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Nothing." she raised an eyebrow. I could fool Sara or Will or the entire cabin. Maybe I could even fool the entire camp. But I could never fool Tabatha. She knew me even better than what I did myself.

"Fine" I sighed "I had a weird dream" I told her about the garden and the Hesperide and her unusual warning.

She frowned "Your blood is close? What did she try to say with that?"

"I have no idea. I mean, I have all my blood running through my veins."

She slapped me on the head, as she always does when I say something silly. Now, I want to get it clear, silly for _her. _Being a daughter of Athena and all, she considers almost everything I say or do as silly.

"Ouch. What was that for?" I complained, rubbing my head.

"When people talks about blood it doesn't always mean the red liquid, Dan. They can be speaking about your family, who _has_ your blood" she explained.

I frowned "But if you're my only family."

"Exactly, so it clearly doesn't refer to me, but to somebody else."

"I don't have anyone else."

"Not as far as we're concerned" she said.

"Are you trying to say, that we can have some other family?" She rolled her eyes.

"Of course that's what I'm trying to say you idiot, what else can it be? By the way, you sure she was a Hesperide?"

"She has to be, there isn't supposed to be anyone but them in that place is it?"

"I know. But, well, the Hesperides are not the…. sharing type. Do you know which one was?" she asked.

I shook my head. She stared at her sword, with that look that meant she was thinking at all her mind's capacity. Just then a shadow stepped in front of us.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Tabatha" said the sweetest voice on earth. I raised my head and found the reason for which my heart had developed a hobbie for somersaults. Annabeth Chase was standing there, with her blond hair loose over her shoulders, her beautiful gray eyes that seemed gray pearls and her perfect and beautiful face. I know I'm ridiculous, but I've had a crush on the girl since I first arrived at camp. On the bright side, soon I knew almost everybody liked her even a little. The bad side, every possible chance with her was long gone.

When we were twelve, a guy named Percy Jackson joined the camp. He came out to be a son of Poseidon. Not even a week had passed when he got his first quest: retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt. Annabeth went with him. Since then, they both had become inseparable. The guy was really awesome, though. He'd gone through plenty of quests and done pretty much everything. Fighting monsters, traveling to the Underworld, holding the weight of the sky, and one of his biggest achievements: he'd stopped the second Titan War. He'd even been offered immortality by the gods themselves. And he was a hero at camp. Any demigod who aspired to be something knew Percy Jackson's story. And if that wasn't enough, he also had Annabeth. They'd started dating right after the war. For all I'd heard, he had refused to become a god for her.

But last October he had just disappeared. One minute he was at his cabin and at the other he was gone. Annabeth had almost lost her sanity looking for him. Now, it seemed to be that there was another camp for demigods, for roman demigods, and that's where he'd been sent. They planned to sail for that camp by June, which was why Leo had been working restless in building that ship the Argo II. But even like that, Annabeth was broken. She hardly ever smiled, hardly ever talked. Even her eyes had lost life.

"We have architecture practice today" she said. There wasn't such thing as architecture practice on the daily schedule, but since the Athena cabin didn't really need mythology classes, they took the liberty of employing those free hours in something they cared for. Like architecture.

"I'm going" Tabatha said.

Annabeth nodded. "We'll be in the cabin's attic, you know" normally, the Athena campers wouldn't talk about their secret locations in front of anybody, but since Tabatha was my cousin, they didn't have problem revealing them to me, as long as I never spoke of them.

"Yeah, just have to fix some things with Dan. Be right there" explained my cousin. Annabeth looked at me, which almost made me choke with my own saliva. She nodded again and leaved. I silently thanked the gods that I hadn't done anything ridiculous. Tabatha broke in laughing.

"You should've seen your face" she said.

"Yes, yes. I should always see my face. You know how nervous she makes me" I defended myself.

"And you know she'll never look at you, don't you?"

I probably should've gotten mad. I don't think anybody likes to be told he'll never have a chance with the love of his life. But in my case, well, you end up accepting that Percy Jackson won the game.

"Yes" I shrugged.

She punched me on the arm and smiled. "Come on, she isn't the last girl in the world. Besides, she's not exactly your type."

"According to you no smart girl is my type."

"Good to see you understand it" she laughed. I rolled my eyes and threw my quiver at her. She sidestepped and avoided the blow.

"Hey, you know it's true, you're a little fool. Anyway, see you" she turned and ran to her cabin. I stayed there until Chiron returned and announced the game was over.

The rest of the day I felt uneasy. I had a very bad feeling that something wasn't right. My suspicions were confirmed by the campfire.

That night the tension was definitely in the air. Since dinner everyone seemed to act cautiously, as if they knew what was coming. During the sing-along, (in which I participated, believe it or not) either nobody was in mood or we weren't. Or maybe both. The day before, several new campers had arrived. At the campfire they were all claimed. A son of Hephaestus, two sons of Aphrodite, a daughter of Demeter and a daughter of Hecate. She caught my attention. She was a small girl with black hair and slightly golden skin. She was probably my age, but I was at least six inches taller. But what I was really staring at were her eyes. Deep black, but also bright and luminous, as if they had a spark of fire inside of them. She looked at me and for a moment I got lost in her eyes, but she looked away quickly and went to join the other Hecate kids.

Chiron gave the usual speech.

"I'd like to welcome Finn, Rick, Derek, Philipp, Lauren and Cassey to the camp, and let you know that you can feel yourselves at home. Now, for tonight's capture-the…" he was interrupted by the wind. But not the kind of soft breeze you're probably thinking of. I mean a really strong wind, so strong that it blew out the fire. The place was left in complete darkness. We all were holding our breath. Whatever so powerful to turn off a magic fire was definitely something nobody wanted to meet. Suddenly, the pyre burst to life with thick purple flames. Everybody took a step back. Then, from the flames emerged a figure in black robes. It's head covered by a hood. No one dared to move. I looked around and found the same confused and terrified look in every face.

The figure spoke.

"_Good night my friends_" he said. I almost fell from my place and I could see the same happened to Tabatha. His voice didn't just sound disturbingly as mine (which was weird enough), but he spoke in Russian. How did I know? Easy, I've spoken Russian since I was two.

Maybe I didn't mention it, but I was born in Russia. So was Tabatha. I lived there with my mom until I was nine, then we moved to the United States. Tabatha leaved Russia when she was thirteen, but I really didn't know what happened to uncle Vick. Maybe she had come alone or something. But, anyway.

I noticed no one had understood, obviously. Either they didn't know in what language he had spoken or, the ones who knew were all looking at me or at Tabatha, asking what the heck our mysterious guest had said.

Before I could explain he laughed.

"Well, well" he said in a perfect English "guess I didn't really expect you would understand. I must remember how little your brains are" he mused. For most of us, this was just an arrogant almost non-important insult. But for the Athena kids it went so much deeper. It was a direct stab on their pride.

"Little brains? Better don't talk about little brains, folk. Yours would be the smallest!"

"Malcom" Annabeth called. Malcom was Annabeth's second-in-command. He looked at her, then at the guy and he sat, fists clenched.

Our friend laughed again.

"All right, I see you've got spirits demigods. Sadly, that won't be enough to save your little friend" he thrust his hand and more flames flickered across his palm. They shined and twirled until they showed an image. There was a general gasp. I heard a few campers murmuring in disbelief. A dozen Hermes guys choked with their drinks (why in the world they were drinking in a moment like that, I have no idea). I saw Chiron fighting hard to keep the composure. And I didn't need to look at Annabeth to know she'd collapse at any moment.

We were looking at the sleeping face of Percy Jackson….


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Annabeth was the first in react.

"Percy!" she cried and tried to urge forward, but she was contained by several of the Athena campers, including Tabatha. The rest of us remained in absolute silence. I glimpsed some teary faces.

"Oh how sweet! So you _do _remember him huh? Oh my, that will make it so much funny" Annabeth was at the verge of tears. I felt a sudden wave of rage towards this guy.

"What have you done to him?" we all turned at the fiery tone of Clarisse La Rue, honestly, the last person I ever expected to speak.

"Oh he's fine, and I haven't even touched him…yet" I didn't like the way he said that. But you didn't need to be Tabatha to know nobody liked it. All around me campers got tense. They adopted defiant positions, gritting their teeth and almost reaching for their weapons. My cabin mates started movements to take their bows. I found myself setting an arrow when a voice stopped me.

"Wait!" it shouted. We all turned and found Piper McLean, rising from her place with the Aphrodite crew.

Piper was this breathtakingly beautiful girl who had arrived at camp more or less three days after Percy's disappearance. She and Leo, along with another guy, Jason, were going on the quest to search for Percy, even though they didn't even know him. She was the new head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin. She had this power, rare among the children of Aphrodite called charmspeaking. She could persuade people with her voice to do whatever she said.

"He's messing with you. Calm down" she commanded. Eventually, we lowered our weapons and relaxed. Our friend really laughed this time.

"Oh look at that, Piper McLean isn't it? A charm user. I expected you to resist my power, and you didn't let me down" he flattered. Piper held his gaze without changing her expression.

Annabeth stepped aside from her siblings and approached to him.

"Where-is-Percy?" she demanded. Her gray eyes sparked with rage. Her fists were tightly clenched.

"I can't give you that information daughter of Athena. Nor I can tell you that he'll be a hundred percent safe because….well, he won't" he said. Annabeth reached for her knife but I got beside her and stopped her hand.

"Hold it" I whispered to her. Then I turned to the guy. His hood had gone up a little so I could see his amused smile.

"Well?" I asked "If everything you wanted was to shatter us by showing this, you can pretty much go you know. We get the point."

"Ah son of Apollo" he sighed "you of all people should be glad I'm…shattering some hopes here" he nodded at Annabeth, but I doubt anyone else saw. What the heck did he know about my feelings for her? And the most important, how did he know?

"I don't care what you think. Just vanish can you?"

He had the nerve to laugh again. I was starting to hate his stupid laugh.

"But how can you want me to go? If I hadn't told you the best part!" he raised his voice, making sure everyone was listening. Like if that was necessary.

"The earth is waking" he said. I almost laughed.

"Yeah, could you at least tell us something we don't know already?"

"Oh but this I bet you don't know Dan" he smiled, though he said my name with a note of anger "Is waking faster than you thought. Its powers are growing stronger. Sooner than what you expected you'll be suffocating in its domains. That ridiculous little voyage you have planed will be, um, canceled. The entire world will suffer the consequences of your failure, because you've already failed" there was silence as we let that sink in. I guess we all knew this could happen. We feared it.

"And your little friend" he continued. Percy's image grew brighter in his hand "So alone and so helpless in his safe hiding place, which won't be safe for so much longer, he'll suffer the most. The end of his days will be quick and tortuous, and he won't even notice. How does it feel, daughter of Athena. How does it feel that you couldn't save him? That you couldn't save the last loved one you had?" I gritted my teeth. Next to me, Annabeth made a squeaking sound between a sob and a yelp.

"Stop it!" I shouted to him.

"No one can stop it!" he replied. The image shifted to a mountain crumbling. Huge boulders fell over a near village, people screaming and running for their lives. Then we were looking at a city in flames, the snow on the roads turning into ponds.

"Unless of course" he said "you can destroy the source of all this power, which is, not just improbable but impossible. So, due to the circumstances, I only wanted to be the first in saying goodbye. Goodbye!" he laughed. "That's it. Enjoy your deaths!" the flames flickered and he disappeared, leaving just the echo of his laughter hanging on the air. The campfire returned to its original color.


	6. IMPORTANT READ!

A/N: Hello! For those who read my story and wonder why it's been abandoned for so long, I must tell you that it will be for some more. At first I was busy with school and stuff, but now that I'm on vacations I've found that I have no inspiration to continue the chapter I started.

For this, I don't think I will continue it soon, since I'm working on other stories (something I do when I have a writer's block in one).

But one thing is certain: I _WILL_ continue. It's one of the best ideas I've ever had. I'm not letting it go that easy.

Until then, see you

P.S: I hope you'll read the story I'll post these days. It's a Hetalia fanfic.


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well, here is chapter 5. I actually finished this some time ago, but I didn't know whether to post it or not. At the end I decided to post it :P I have a few more chapters done, but I really need some time to advance a little with the story, so this may be the only chapter in many time.**

**But meanwhile….Enjoy it and thanks for reading **

In the last chapter:

"Unless of course" he said "you can destroy the source of all this power, which is, not just improbable but impossible. So, due to the circumstances, I only wanted to be the first in saying goodbye. Goodbye!" he laughed. "That's it. Enjoy your deaths!" the flames flickered and he disappeared, leaving just the echo of his laughter hanging on the air. The campfire returned to its original color.

Chapter 5

Annabeth fell to her knees. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. She started sobbing and calling Percy's name so miserably I almost started crying myself. I'd never seen her like that. And I guess no one ever had, because everybody was looking at her incredulously. Her siblings looked heartbroken as they helped her to her feet.

We were just recovering from the shock when, next to Chiron, Rachel Dare started convulsing.

She closed her eyes and held her temples. Her helpers ran to her, but just as one took her hand she opened her eyes. They were emerald green. Green smoke started swirling around her feet. We all waited for her to talk in that terrifying prophecy voice, but instead, she moved. I mean, she never moves when she's delivering a prophecy. She started to walk away from her place.

Campers pushed each other aside to let her pass. She was coming in our direction. I was about to clear the way when I noticed she had stopped a few steps from me. I tried to move but her green eyes followed me. I gulped as she came closer, until she was standing just a few inches from my face.

And if the thing wasn't creepy enough, she suddenly spread her arms and two columns of smoke started moving around.

One reached Tabatha. I saw her shaking her head confusedly as it twirled around her. We locked eyes and she muttered the words _what the hell. _Then she pointed at something behind me. I turned and found the other column had strike at the new Hecate girl, Cassey. She tried to back off but she found herself encircled. Our gazes met. Her black eyes were full of fear.

When I turned again I found that Rachel's face hadn't moved at all. She was still staring at me. Then she opened her mouth and spoke in the weirdest way I've ever listened her. It was like a combination between Rachel's voice and the guy's:

_Son of sunlight, make your stand,_

_The owls and roads shall be your help,_

_Through the land of oars the path heads,_

_To face the one who lost his way,_

_Oracular children shall confront,_

_And save the soul that sleeps in front. _

At the last word she collapsed, as she always did. Her helpers unfroze in time to catch her. They made way between the campers and took her to the Big House.

I looked around. Everybody was staring at me. I should say at us, because they were also looking at Tabatha and Cassey. The silence was only broken by the crackling of the fire. Finally, Chiron spoke.

"Well, the campfire it's over. Everybody back to your cabins" he addressed. He needed a minute to be obeyed.

Campers blinked and shook their heads to wake from the trance they were into. Head counselors started gathering their respective crews and headed back to the cabins. Soon, the Amphitheater was almost empty. I was about to follow Will and the others when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Not you, Dan" Chiron said. I turned and found him looking gently at me. Behind him were Cassey, still freaked out, and Tabatha, hugging Annabeth, who was still sobbing.

"We need to talk" I looked at him again and almost choked. Now he had that look he gave every hero when they were about to leave and probably never come back. And I had the feeling that was exactly what would happen to me

"It seems you've got a quest to fulfill."


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We gathered at the Big House rec room. We sat around the ping-pong table with Seymour the leopard snoring on the wall. To be honest, I'd never been there before. It was the place of the council meetings, and of course, I've never been head counselor.

I'd been at camp longer than almost anyone. Even than Will and Michael Yew, our previous counselor. Chiron did offer me the post when Lee Fletcher, our _previous_ counselor, died.

But I rejected it, simply because I don't like to have people under my leadership. After Michael's death he didn't bother in asking again. He knew I'd say no.

Chiron cleared his throat.

"Well, we're here to discuss the matter of the quest. It's clear that Rachel herself, er, I mean, the spirit of Delphi, disposed that this is Dan's quest" he said. I wanted to shrink in my chair. I hated to be the center of attention, even if there were five people in the room. Rachel, who was back to normal, was sat in the chair next to Chiron.

"It's true" she said "If you say I addressed him personally, it must be that he's supposed to lead it."

"It's more than that" said Tabatha "Apart from anything you could've done, it's the prophecy itself. _Son of sunlight. _Apollo is the sun god, so it does speak about you, Dan."

"And about you" Chiron pointed "_The owls and roads shall be your help. _Owls are Athena's sacred animals, as for the roads…"

"It refers to me" said Cassey. I turned to see her. She spoke in a tiny voice, almost dreading how many gazes she could attract.

"What?" I asked.

"Hecate is the goddess of crossroads" she said without looking at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought she was the goddess of magic."

"Both. She was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and so with magic" she explained.

Chiron nodded. "Indeed. In ancient times people made Hecate burning offers to guarantee safety at crossing a border, or to know the right way to take in a crossroad."

"Yes, yes, doorways, crossroads, Hecate, fine. But what I still don't get is the part of the path. Which path it talks about?" I said.

"Neither I know" Chiron said "But what doesn't leave a doubt is that you must go to the land of oars."

"Meaning?" I asked. Tabatha, who was sitting next to me, snorted and I swear she resisted the urge of slapping me.

"Gods, you're dense Dan! The land of oars is Russia. The word Russia means "Land of Rus"._ Rus_ in Swedish means _oar, _because the vikings of Rurik used oar boats" she explained.

I almost never processed all her historical facts. Okay, I _never_ processed all her historical facts, so I just rescued the main point. The land of oars=Russia.

"So, you're saying…"

"Yes, we're going back home" she said. I suppressed a smile.

Russia. My country. My home. All those years I had to accept that my only home was cabin seven, and my only family were my cabin mates and the other Apollo children in the world, and Tabatha. But the idea of actually going back to the place where I was born made a strange happiness surge inside of me.

Tabatha didn't sound thrilled, though. Instead, her dark tone made me doubt she was even moved by the thought of returning.

"Back home?" Cassey asked.

"We're Russian" I said smiling.

"Both of you?"

"Dan and Tabatha are cousins" Chiron said.

"But…"

"I'll explain you later my dear. Meanwhile, yes, guys, you're returning home, but not in a good way."

My smile faded.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If your quest is somehow related with our mysterious visitant, we can only expect your trip to be dangerous. I ignore if his words are true, but if they are, we may be facing the beginning of doomsday" he said.

I made a sad smile. "Yeah, well, we've always been at the beginning of doomsday, haven't we?"

"You're right, Dan, but this time it's even bigger. It's Gaea who we're talking about. Mother earth herself" Chiron said.

"Well, yes but, what does this guy have to do with anything?" Annabeth asked. Her voice made me jump a little, not only for obvious reasons. She'd been so quiet I'd completely forgotten she was there (as impossible as that sounds).

Chiron scratched his beard. "It's a good question, and I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea" he talked looking directly at me. I gulped.

"What? You think only because he sounded just like me I have something…"

"I never said that" he said simply.

"I still have a doubt about the prophecy" Annabeth said "what does it mean _Oracular children_?"

"That can also refer to Dan" Rachel said "Apollo is also the god of oracles."

"But it said _children_, more than one" Tabatha remarked.

"_Oracular children shall confront_, that sounds like a fight" Cassey said. She was right. I hadn't thought about that line, and I didn't like the idea of a fight. I suck as a fighter, honestly. I mean, sure I'm an archer and all, but put a knife or a sword in my hand and I'll pretty much drop it. I hate sharp objects. I know I know. I'm the lamest of demigods.

"And the soul that sleeps in front, that sounds like someone's sleeping and you must save him, or her" Rachel said.

Annabeth nodded. "So, summarizing, Cassey, Dan and Tabatha must travel to Russia, they must find this...whatever it is and destroy it or stop it before the images we saw become real and before..." she trailed off, but we all knew what she wanted to say: before it could hurt Percy.

Chiron stroked her hair.

"Don't worry child. He'll be fine you'll see" he said. Tabatha squeezed her hand and she gave her a sad smile.

"Yes" she said "he'll be."

I realized what that meant. She was trusting us to guarantee his safety. As awkward as that felt for me, I knew I had to.

"It's all clear then" said Rachel "I guess, Chiron, the only thing left is to see if Dan accepts the quest."

Chiron smiled at her "Sometimes I think the spirit of Delphi makes you clever than me. You're right, we haven't even asked Dan if he agrees to take the quest" he turned to me, and so did the others.

Rachel, Annabeth, Tabatha, even Cassey was looking at me. Now what? I'd been through the whole thing and only then I was actually realizing what I was about to do. I was about to go on a dangerous quest, which would most likely get me killed, along with my cousin (my only true family left in the world) and a girl I'd just met.

And I'd be the leader, which I hated the most about it.

But, how couldn't I do it? It wasn't only Percy, but everything I knew that was in danger. Maybe I wouldn't be the great hero who would stop Gaea and save the world, but I could play a role, maybe a crucial one. How would I ever look at my friend's faces again if I refused to take the risk?

I took a shaky breath "I…I accept."

Chiron smiled. "So it is decided. Tomorrow at first light you leave for the airport."


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

If I slept that night? Forget it.

When we left the Big House the moon was already at the very top of the night sky. It must've been like twelve.

I waited for Tabatha at the door.

"Shall we go?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "You go. I want to make sure Annabeth gets some sleep. It's been enough emotions for a day" I nodded.

"Right so, good night" I said.

"Good night" she went with Annabeth and together they walked to their cabin.

Fine, more time to think. I put my hands in my pockets and lowered my head, still wondering what the heck I'd gotten myself into. I decided to let it go for now and just walked to my cabin.

Halfway I spotted Cassey. She was looking in all directions and frowning. I approached to her.

"You lost?" she jumped when she heard me "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's all right" she said. She looked around again.

I managed a smile. "You don't know where your cabin is, do you?"

"I…well…no" she admitted "I never got to ask Chiron."

"Don't worry, I'll show you" I offered. She looked like she was going to say no but she just sighed.

"Okay" she said. I started walking and she followed me. Nobody spoke. I could hear the crickets singing by the lake and the sounds of monsters coming from the woods. Cassey startled a little when something like a dragon growled, but when I put my hand on her shoulder she relaxed. We stopped in front of a stone building with an encircled maze symbol on the door.

"Cabin twenty" I announced.

She looked at the place and muttered "I like it."

"Good" a voice said. From the shadows emerged Lou Ellen, the head counselor for Hecate.

"Lou. You've been waiting all this time?"

She nodded. "I have to show Cassey her bunk, and lend her some clothes. I bet you don't have anything else" she said to her.

Cassey shook her head.

"So come on in then, I'm freezing you know, it's warmer inside."

Cassey glanced carefully at me.

"Well, served miss" I said.

She smiled. Just then I noticed she had a beautiful smile, but of course, I couldn't have noticed before because this was the very first time I saw her smiling.

"Thank you. See you…in the morning" she said uncomfortably. I could tell why. She knew it was crazy, and even like that she hadn't refused to come. Neither had she formally accepted though.

She was climbing the steps when that hit me.

"Hey" I called. She turned "Well, I guess with all this nobody asked you if you were okay with all this crazy. So, you really accept to come in the quest? If you don't want I'll understand. I know it is the most…"

"I do" she said. I looked at her. Her eyes told me everything. She was terrified. She completely agreed that it was suicide, that we might not live to tell the tale. But either way she was willing to do it. I didn't know why but I was really grateful for that.

"Okay, so…"

"I'll see you tomorrow" she insisted.

"I'll come for you" I blurted. I didn't have any idea of why I said it. It was weird, really weird, but I felt suddenly protective towards her, like if I wanted to make sure she was going to be alright, though I couldn't think of anything bad that could possibly happen in the way from her cabin to the camp entrance.

"What?" she asked.

"I mean, I'll pass by and we, you know, we can head together to where Argus will pick us, it's…it's that okay?"

"Y-yeah, it's fine. So, um, goodnight" she said awkwardly.

"Yes, good night" I said. She turned to Lou Ellen, who was trying hard not to smile and they entered the cabin. I stood there until they shut the door. I glimpsed Lou looking through the window. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and walked to my cabin.

The lights were off. When I opened the door I found everybody sleeping.

"_They_ can sleep" I thought.

I put my pajamas on and got under the covers. Of course, I didn't expect sleeping, but just relaxing a little. I don't know how much time I spent rolling from one side to the other on the bed until I finally fell asleep.

But sleeping only made things worse.

In my dream I was in a cave. The ceiling was covered with shining stones and some weird symbols were carved in the rock. I glanced in front and gasped. A Cyclops was kneeling before a stone stairwell. I silently moved aside to see what was going on. On the top of the stairwell was a figure with its back upon us.

"They have the quest master" the Cyclops said. But he spoke in Russian.

"I know" the figure replied in English. I recognized his voice. It was the guy.

The Cyclops blinked.

"I know you know master" he said, in English now "because I know that you know more than what I know and I can't know what you…"

"Oh, shut up Sokar. Just tell me if everything's ready" he snapped.

Sokar seemed to gulp.

"T-that's what I wanted to tell you, master. The…main surprise isn't ready yet, and that's the problem. If the boy arrives before time…"

"He won't" the guy said.

"But master if he does…"

"I've just said that he won't" he turned. He was still wearing his hood so I couldn't see his face.

Sokar's hands trembled.

"N-no, no of course he won't, master. You know it all, and I don't know anything" he said the last like if he had said it lots of times and had already memorized it.

"Yes Sokar, I know and you don't" he said "They won't arrive before the expected because they have a specific route to follow, and that will take some time."

The Cyclops nodded.

"Yes, I remember you told me about the route. But if the boy can't figure it out?"

"I wouldn't worry" the guy said simply. He waved his hand and an image appeared. It was me, well, it was me as I must've been at that moment, sleeping in my bunk. I was moving and muttering things. Half my covers were almost on the floor.

"He's smarter than he appears. I know it's hard to believe."

_Hey_ I tried to say but no sound came from my mouth. I guess it was better like that. Maybe they could've heard me. He waved his hand again and the image vanished.

"When he wakes he'll know what he must do" he said "I saw it."

"O-okay, so, you need me for anything else master?" Sokar asked.

"No Sokar, be gone."

The Cyclops stood and started walking.

"Oh, one more thing" the guy called.

Sokar turned.

"Y-yes master?"

"Tell Lizzie to come" he ordered.

"Yes master" the Cyclops bowed and got out of the cave.

When the echo of Sokar's steps died the guy turned again to the cave wall he was staring at. I approached carefully from behind.

"I know you're watching Dan" he said suddenly. That stopped me on my tracks. How did he know I was there? He wasn't even looking in my direction.

"And I know you don't understand" he continued "but try to _really_ use your brain this time will you? It's important for both of us" I wanted to kick him on the back. He sounded just like Tabatha, but only my cousin was allowed to call me an idiot.

But before I could move my dream shifted. The cave and the guy vanished and I found myself in the Amphitheater back at camp.

But that was not the only thing. Rachel was standing in front of me, oracle mode. She took a step forward and spoke.

"_Ladon"_ she said. I could imagine the enormous question mark that must've been floating over my head.

"What?" I asked.

"_Cave"_ she continued _"Zoe. Water. Magic. Owl. Fight. Time" _she made a pause. By now, I was sure my question mark had grown at least as big as a cabin.

"_Brother…"_ she said.

"Look, Rachel" it was silly to pretend she could hear me "I don't know what you…"

"_Ladon" _she said again.

When she said it the earth rumbled. I tried to kneel but I lost my balance and fell on my back. Suddenly I heard the guy's voice.

"_Try to _really_ use your brain will you? It's important for both of us" _he said.

Then everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I woke with a start. A faint sunlight entered through the windows of the cabin. I rubbed my eyes and then realized that it was today. Our deadly quest was today. I buried my face on the pillow. I wasn't ready. And that stupid guy and Rachel had only made me get more confused than what I already was.

"_A specific route_" he had said. Was there another route than a New York-Berlin-Moscow flight?

My cabin mates were doing their typical morning duties, and nobody was looking at me. I glanced at the clock. Seven twenty. I should be at the camp entrance by eight. I picked some comfortable clothes and got into the bathroom.

That morning I couldn't take a long shower like I used to, so I speeded it up a little, got dressed and opened the door, to find that I had taken less than fifteen minutes. I walked to my bunk and tossed my pajamas over the bed. When I turned I found everybody behind me.

"Wow" I said, since I almost stepped on Kelly's foot. She didn't say a word.

"Morning. Lovely day huh?" I said, though it was stupid considering the circumstances.

Nobody answered. They were just staring at me. After what seemed an eternity, Will stepped forward.

"Dan, we-we just want to, wish you luck" he stammered. I'd known him for five years more or less, and I could tell that wasn't the only thing he wanted to say.

"Wish you luck and" Catherine interfered "we also want to help you. We don't have much you know, but if there's something we can…" she couldn't finish. Sarah pushed people away and threw her arms around me.

"Yeah, that's the other thing" Catherine smiled "We want you to be careful Dan. You're very important for us. You're our brother. And, after what happened to Lee and Michael…" she trailed off. Michael was _her _brother.

"We don't want to lose anyone else" Kelly completed. She patted Catherine on the shoulder. She just smiled, obviously holding back tears.

"Not even you" Jack blurted. Everybody turned to him. He rarely ever spoke. "It's not that I hate your or anything, of course not. But…well, just, come back alive will you?" he said awkwardly.

Everyone looked at me again. I saw the same request in every look.

"I…I will" I promised, though I didn't know if I could keep that promise.

Sarah had already pulled away from me. She elbowed Hayley.

"Ow, what? Oh, right!" he took a box he had over his bed "For you man. Some of my dad's toys" I stared at the box in disbelief.

Hayley's stepfather was also a demigod, a son of Hephaestus. He worked in one of those mortal weapon designing labs, but he found his time to design demigod weapons as well. He designed the most incredible stuff. From mini-poisonous-arrows to deadly-celestial bronze-cell phones (long story).

"You-you're really giving this to me?" I asked.

"Yes, really. I didn't want to, though, but…" Sarah stomped her foot over his "They are totally yours man!" he put the box in my hands.

I almost laughed. "Thank you."

"Yes, whatever."

"And here is this" I turned and found Natalie. She gave me a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares and a gray thermos "It's nectar" she said.

"Thanks."

"And don't forget the drachmas" said Peter, a little ten year old guy who had arrived two months ago. He tossed me a little cloth bag, I opened it and found, at least, two dozens of golden drachmas.

"And of course" Will said "You can't forget the weapons" he was holding Carl. Now, Carl is not a person. It is a four-foot, dark brown, polished wooden bow. If you ask me, it was the most amazing bow in the world. It could throw an arrow at a distance of even two hundred yards with an amazing intensity. Of course, it depended on your skill, but even if you were useless at archery, the bow made it almost impossible to miss, _almost._ It was also Will's favorite.

"Just, take care of it okay?" he said. He tried to put it in my hands but I stepped back.

"Hey, um, you don't have to give me your favorite bow man. I can use one of mines" I said.

He shook his head.

"I know, but I want you to use this one as well" he said "It was a gift from dad, you know? He said it would always protect its user. I haven't needed it like, in that way, but right know you do so…" he hung the bow at my back "I won't accept a no for an answer."

"I-don't know what to say."

"Just say you'll use it" he smiled.

"I'll do" I said.

"And you can't use a bow without arrows" Catherine walked to her bunk and from the wall she picked three quivers full of arrows. She gave them to me "Classic, Sonic and a few Explosives" she said.

I grabbed the quivers "Thanks Cath" I said. She smiled.

"And you better take this too" said Will. He gave me the camping tent we had in the storage room "Just in case."

I nodded. I put the things over my bed, along with the clothes I'd take, my bow and two of my own quivers. I also took a sleeping bag (like Will said, just in case) a lantern and some Russian rubles I still had. It wasn't much though, the equivalent of thirty dollars approximately, imagining that they were still valid. But when I had it all I found a problem: there was no way all that could fit in my backpack.

Sarah seemed to read my thoughts. She searched under her bed and pulled out a green backpack. She tossed it to me.

"I'll even let you use it" she said.

It wasn't any backpack. It was _the_ backpack, as we both called it. It had been a gift from her mother. It was big enough to contain even a suitcase in it, but not at all uncomfortable or bothersome to carry. Besides, I could almost swear it seemed to grow or diminish according to how much you had inside. I was sure it was magic somehow, though she'd never tell me. And she'd never let me borrow it either, so I had always been dying for using it.

"Really?" I asked taking the backpack.

"Hey, you need it" she said "But I want it back, not a single scratch."

I didn't see how that could be possible, but I just nodded.

"Well? Hurry up then, you're gonna be late" she was right. The clock marked ten minutes for eight.

I packed everything. As I expected, it all fit perfectly, and the pack wasn't even heavy. When I was done I shouldered it. The only things I couldn't get into it were the quivers. I managed to hang my bow across my back too, and I turned Carl into a mini bow, one of the things I loved the most of it, and stuffed it into my pocket. I also hung a quiver over one of my shoulders and grabbed the rest. I was ready.

Sara hugged me again.

"Be careful you fool" she said in a little voice. I looked at her eyes and saw there was danger of tears.

"I'll be, don't worry" I hugged back, tightly.

One by one, they all hugged me, shook my hands and wished me luck. If these were different circumstances, I'm sure I would've felt really happy.

"Take care Dan" Catherine hugged me too and then she kissed me on the cheek. I didn't need to look at Will to know he was probably jealousy green. But even like that he patted me on the shoulder.

"You're an amazing son of Apollo Dan, never doubt it" maybe it was just my imagination, but I swear I glimpsed a tear forming in his eye. Catherine must have noticed too, because she hugged him and laughed.

He cleared his throat. "Well, g-goodbye. Make us proud" he said.

I nodded and walked out of the cabin. When I turned back I saw them all gathered at the door. Just then I started doubting if I would ever see them again, if I would ever return with my family. But if I stood there thinking about that it would be harder. I just waved and walked away.

* * *

**A/N: I'm alive! :P Sorry for how long it took me to update, but I just don't have time, or inspiration, or anything :/ **

**I have so many ideas for other stories that I just can't write them all, nor I can focus just in one story. Also, I don't have any more inspiration for this. I mean, I know what I want to write and I have the whole story thought in my mind and I already have the explanations and the ending and all….but I can't get to write it! And that frustrates me! ¬¬**

**But….anyway, meanwhile, I'm trying to empty my head of all those other ideas so maybe I can continue with this one. Just give some time ;) **

**And well, tell me what you think of this story. What you like the most, what you think it needs…anything. Criticism welcome! (Constructive criticism please). **

**See you! ;)**


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